Oh. Hello almost August! Ugh.

July Beauty Favorites I howsweeteats.com

What is happening? August?

Okay I’m just going to stop. Let’s get to pretty, sparkly things instead of focusing on how our lives are flying by.

I did some serious makeup damage this month. In May and June I was fairly frugal with my beauty junkiness, mostly do to finishing up the book and having lots of things going on. And even though I got hit pretty hard this month with a dumb cold, retail therapy is my friend. If I stood here and shouted out loud “I LOVE MAKEUP!” it still would not be enough to convey how much I love makeup. Ugh. Love it.

SO. Just want to mention before I go on that I am still using and obsessed with: all of the macadamia hair stuff (I definitely think amazon has the best prices on this stuff, though make sure to read reviews on certain products because it seems that some counterfeit stuff is out there), my too faced bronzer, the batiste dry shampoo, the kenra blow dry spray, my josie maran moisturizer, the coola sunscreen, the naked basics palette and the same mascaras. I know that is a ridiculous list, but it’s true. Same goes for all of the lipsticks from last month.

Now onto this month!

Smashbox Heat Wave Palette I howsweeteats.com

This smashbox heat wave palette. Okay, I must admit that in all my years of makeup loving (so since I was, like, 11 years old), I was never a palette girl until I got my Naked 2 palette a year or so ago. I actually bought this smashbox one earlier in the summer after multiple trips to Ulta and dreams about the stunning colors inside. It’s just SO PRETTY to look at. I’ve used every single one of these colors so far and love them all – even though it’s a bit out of my comfort zone since they are more warm-toned shadows. The true test will be in January when I am so pale that my skin is blue.

P.S. this comes with a nice brush as you can see, but I tend to use my fingers or some of my favorite real technique brushes. I also use the colors to line my lower lash line and will use a tiny liner brush from MAC.

Urban Decay Sin I howsweeteats.com

If I’m not wearing any color, I’m going back to one of my standbys – urban decay sellout. One of the only shadows I’ve gone through multiples of. This might be my third. I love this shade.

Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Ether and Empire I howsweeteats.com

Oh shocking! More urban decay liners. You’re probably thinking ummm… she is hoarding those liners.

You would be correct. These are my most favorite liners of all time and I freak over them. The two shades above are both purple hues (the lighting says otherwise but as you can see throughout this post, the lighting was horrific that day) and with my green eyes, that is my favorite color to wear. Ether is kind of sparkly, empire is matte. Love.

Dr Jart Premium BB Cream I howsweeteats.com

Had to give another shoutout to my dr. jart BB cream, the BB cream that made me slightly believe in BB creams. I’ve also repurchased a second one of this product, which speaks volumes for me. I did mention a few months ago that in the winter, this shade is too dark for me. But I can probably get away with it through September and I wear this almost every day. I have not worn a foundation in months.

Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Blush and Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Glisten I howsweeteats.com

Cheek things!

It is a possibility that blush is becoming my new favorite beauty product. It used to be eye shadow and liners buuuuut… I’ve been a blush fanatic the last few months.

This is another one of my tarte amazonian clay blushes in glisten. I think you know how much I love these things. Cannot say enough good things. They last forevvvvver. It’s tough to even make a dent if you like to switch up your blush.

And on days where I’m not really wearing any makeup (I almost never wear powder – skin is too dry and I hate a cakey look) – I love this josie maran coconut water gel blush. The texture is awesome and the color is not scary, despite how it appears. It blends perfectly and just gives my cheeks a little glow. Josie Maran is quickly becoming one of my favorite brands. Love everything from her.

Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Blush and Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Glisten I howsweeteats.com

Now on to lips, which I am sooo excited about. I have lots of new lip things to discuss.

First up, urban decay lipstick. Being the UD freak that I am, I can’t even tell you how many lipsticks I purchased when they released their new line earlier this month. I AM IN LOVE WITH THESE LIPSTICKS. More shouting. Apologies.

Urban Decay Lipstick in Obsessed, Buxom Lipgloss in Lavender Cosmo, Urban Decay Lip Pencil in Obsessed I howsweeteats.com

I will tell you more about the other colors I got in future posts or instagrams, but the one I’ve been wearing the most is called obsessed. Along with the matching liner, which should be no surprise due to how much I love the eyeliners.

Next, perhaps one of my favorite purchases this month is this buxom lavender cosmo gloss. Holy crap. Honestly, I’ve never really been a fan of buxom products… but I walked by this on the summer display in Sephora and it just called out to me. Words cannot describe how much I love this. I wear it on top of lipstick or wear it alone. It smells delicious. It’s slightly “plumping” but does not burn your lips at all. Freak.Ing.Love.It.

Urban Decay Lipstick in Obsessed, Buxom Lipgloss in Lavender Cosmo, Urban Decay Lip Pencil in Obsessed I howsweeteats.com

Another repeat offender I’m loving so much that I had to mention it again is this tarte brush. This thing is amazing. It’s so soft, so dense, so giant. I love it for bronzer. I want like three of these things so I can use one for blush and plain old blending too.

Tarte: the buffer airbrush finish  bamboo foundation brush I howsweeteats.com

These have been my go-to polishes all month. Both are longtime faves and just scream “summer!,” right? The neon highlighter shade is called rave and one that I instagrammed last summer. So bright and so me. The pink is self explanatory and one I’ve been wearing since spring. In other words: perfect.

Illamasqua Rave and China Glaze Shocking Pink I howsweeteats.com

Oh. Hair stuff? Do I really need to even talk about this?

Macadamia Oil Curl Cream and No Tangle I howsweeteats.com

I’ve continued trying out macadamia products since I love the shampoo and masque so much. Wow. These also did not disappoint. Totally love the curl cream (my hair is naturally wavy) and the no tangle is awesome too. Is there anything from this line I won’t love? Probably not. 

Hawaiian Tropic I howsweeteats.com

This aftersun gel. Um… I had an unfortunate run in with the sun last week and got BURNT TO BITS with SPF 50 on. It was so bad that I felt like I actually bought a bad batch of sunscreen or something. Insane. Anyhoo, while I whined and cried for three days straight, this was all that made me feel better. Thank goodness for free samples attached to sunscreen bottles.

Along the same lines… this little sun bum sunscreen stick below. IN LOVE. First off, it fits easily in a purse and is so easy to apply if I’m out in the sun longer than I anticipated. It also doesn’t seem to burn my face if I’m sweating when applying it like some others do. Oh… and it smells like tropical bananas or something. Like I’m tempted to ingest it.

Sum Bum SPF 30 Sunscreen Stick I howsweeteats.com

Now this body butter? OMG.

Definitely another favorite purchase of the month. I figured I’d love this, but did not think I’d love it THIS much. I’m a big user of the body shop body butters and if you use those, you know how thick they are. You can feel them on your skin all day. And while I love them – this is different. It’s super luxurious but much lighter on the skin. It is not sticky. I have the vanilla apricot scent which is just, like… intoxicating. GAH.

July Beauty Favorites I howsweeteats.com

That is all. As usual, please tell me what you are loving! Set a bad example. Influence me.

[none of this post is sponsored and none of these companies even know who i am. i just really love to talk about makeup and hoard beauty products. there are a handful of amazon affiliate links above.]